OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team made its home debut at Baxter Arena Saturday afternoon, falling 95-83 to Oral Roberts on the opening day of Summit League play.
Leaders for Omaha
Marlon Ruffin put up a season-best 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, canning three 3-pointers and finishing 5-of-6 at the line while adding four assists.
Matt Pile joined him in double figures with a season-high-tying 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting with eight rebounds and two helpers.
Ayo Akinwole rounded it out with 10 points, and
Devin Evans hit 4-of-5 en route to eight points, all in the first half.
Leaders for Oral Roberts
Kevin Obanor and Max Abmas combined for 64 points to pace Oral Roberts. Obanor finished with a double-double on 39 points and 10 rebounds, hitting 16-of-23 with six triples. Abmas had four 3-pointers of his own en route to 25 points alongside three rebounds, five assists and three steals. RJ Glasper (14) and Kareem Thompson (10) also scored in double figures.
Team Stats
Omaha trailed the entire game but shot 56% (32-of-57) to Oral Roberts' 54% (36-of-67). ORU hit 15 threes for the afternoon and had a slight 32-30 rebounding edge, including 10 offensive boards that resulted in 16 second-chance points.
Inside the First Half
Ruffin poured in 14 points, hitting 5-of-7 with a pair of triples as the Mavericks shot 58% (18-of-31) in the opening 20 minutes. Obanor (24) and Abmas (18) had 42 of ORU's first-half points as the Golden Eagles made 11 threes.
ORU quickly built a 19-6 advantage by the first timeout. The Mavericks managed to pull within one with seven minutes to the break on the back of a 10-2 run, but ORU surged again late to lead 56-40 at the midway point.
Inside the Second Half
Ruffin added 10 more points in the second stanza. Pile added nine points on 4-of-4 shooting and grabbed five boards, and Akinwole chipped in another eight points.
A Francis Lacis three spotted ORU its largest lead at 77-60 with just under 10 to play. Omaha managed to cut the margin to single digits with the help of a Ruffin trey and three free throws that trimmed it to 87-81 with three minutes left, but ORU took the weekend's opener, 95-83.
Noting Today's Game
-Saturday was Omaha's first game at Baxter Arena in 311 days.
-The Mavericks' 56% shooting and 83 points were both season bests.
-Omaha is now 2-9 (0-1 Summit League) on the season, while Oral Roberts improves to 4-5 (1-0 Summit League).
Up Next
Omaha and Oral Roberts conclude the weekend on Sunday, Jan. 3, with tipoff set for 4 p.m. at Baxter Arena. Gary Sharp and Kyler Erickson will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
